


Strange Places

by OtterMcKilbourne (p_3a)



Series: NaNoWriMo 2015 [17]
Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Child Neglect, M/M, Reconciliation, anduin is so done, wrathion is bad at relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-06
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-05-05 06:38:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5365127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/p_3a/pseuds/OtterMcKilbourne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wrathion has sat in the same seat every lecture since the first day of term.</p><p>Today, someone else has taken his seat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strange Places

This… this was completely ridiculous.

Wrathion stopped by the door to the lecture theatre, staring in disbelief. Other students piled up behind him, frustrated that he was blocking the door. But he didn’t care. How _dare_ they??

Someone… _someone_. Some _ridiculous_ clown. Some absurd excuse for a student.

Was sat in his seat.

He’d been sat there _all semester_. He hadn’t moved. That was _his seat_. Surely everyone knew that?! It wasn’t even as if this man was a new student; Wrathion had seen him before, skulking around and trying to recruit people for this club or that, with that awful charming grin on his horrible handsome face. And now he was _sat in his seat_.

Balling his hands up, he stormed up the steps in the lecture theatre and slammed his books down on top of this-- this _usurper’s_.  
“ _What_ are you doing?!” he demanded. “This is clearly my seat! I have been sat here since _September the 1st_ and now _you_ think you can get away with sitting here as if that isn’t a _huge_ breach of unspoken lecture etiquette?!”  
“Well--” The man stuttered, and he didn’t look anywhere near as apologetic as Wrathion would like. “I _thought_ it would be a nice way to tell you we’d been put as lab partners for our next assignment, but since you’re being so horrid about it maybe I’ll ask to be reassigned!”

He stood up sharply, shoved Wrathion’s books back into his arms, then grabbed his own and moved across the lecture theatre.

...well.

That…

Wrathion tried to ignore the way tears stung the corners of his eyes. That could have gone a _lot_ better.

They sat through the lecture, and Wrathion didn’t look at his partner once. His name was Anduin, he learned, from the little slip of paper the professor gave him; he tried not to look upset. He ended up leaving the class early. He couldn’t deal with _any_ of this.

But Anduin stood up from his seat and Wrathion didn’t manage to make it out of the corridor before the deceptively fast man had caught up with him and grabbed his arm.

“Don’t _touch_ me!” Wrathion snarled, tugging his arm away and glaring at-- oh. This guy again. _Great_.  
“At least give me your number,” Anduin scowled. “If we’re going to be working together, we might as well make sure we can at least communicate. I’m not going to let you skim my grades.”  
“ _Your_ grades?!” Wrathion drew himself up. “I think you’ll find I have the highest average test scores out of the entire lecture hall, not to mention I’m the youngest student at the university! My grades will only improve with time, whereas yours have no doubt begun degrading already! I most certainly do not desire to _skim your grades_ whatsoever!”  
“Why are you being so fucking mean?!” Anduin’s hand trembled on his cane. “Just-- _think before you speak_ for once!” And he shoved a piece of paper into Wrathion’s chest before stalking back to the lecture theatre, shooting a glare over his shoulder as he did so.

It was his phone number.

Wrathion crumpled it up and shoved it in his pocket. He’d just ask the professor to grade their work separately.

But no. That didn’t matter. He didn’t have any other classes for the rest of the day, so he simply headed back to his dormitory to study.

Wrathion hadn’t come to university to make friends, after all. He was here to learn, and to become the best at every subject he turned his hand to. So far, he’d even succeeded; sure, this was his first subject, and the first _year_ of it at that, but his uncle hadn’t withdrawn the funding yet. So he must be doing _something_ right.

For some reason - oversight, perhaps; maybe some misguided attempt on some pastoral staff or other to make him _socialise_ , or merely a prank upon his person by his _other_ uncle or his aunt - he’d been paired in the dormitory with what he would derisively term a _party animal_. But he coped. Liam was a few years older than Wrathion was, and he seemed to have a near-constant stream of party invites that had him out of the dormitory. Perfect for Wrathion and his concentration.

So he walked down the corridor, opened the dormitory door, and--  
\--frowned.  
Took out his key. Unlocked the door, opened it, and--  
\--couldn’t.

Eventually, he resorted to simply banging on the door. “ _Liam_!”  
A muffled noise and the sound of shifting covers came from inside. Then footsteps, and Liam’s tired-sounding voice: “Hey.”  
“Don’t you have class? I need to study.”  
“Hey, uh, about that.” Wrathion seethed as Liam took the time to yawn. “Listen, I’m using the dorm today, so like. Find somewhere else to crash, yeah? You got people you can call.”  
“ _Liam_ , this is _my dormitory_ as much as yours, and--”  
“Shh, you’ll wake my boyfriend!” There was nowhere near as much humour in the statement as Wrathion thought there ought to have been. This _had_ to be a joke.  
“I don’t _care_ about your ludicrous boyfriend! Go and find somewhere _else_ to fornicate so I can do my work!”  
“See you later, Wrathion.”  
“ _No! Liam! You open this door this instant!_ ”

Fifteen minutes of fruitless pounding later and it finally became evident that Liam had absolutely no intention of opening the door. It made him feel sick. “If _any_ of my belongings are displaced, I’m calling the police!” he shouted, before giving the door a final furious kick and deciding to retreat to the library.

And he _did_ get a solid few hours of work done there. Most of them were even spent on the ridiculous group assignment. He seriously considered asking the disability office to put on his file that he couldn’t be asked to work in pairs; this assignment wasn’t even _difficult_ , and the fact it involved cooperative work seemed largely arbitrary. Ridiculous.

But when it came to get dark, and the library began to close, he had to face the prospect of the dormitory again. Hopefully, Liam would have cleaned up.

But he checked. And it seemed that Liam still had no intention of letting him in. “Just find someplace else,” he drawled, probably stoned out of his mind on some horrid drug that Wrathion would be catching whiffs of for weeks. “It’s no big deal”.

Wrathion kicked the door again, then stormed off to the foyer - where he sat down in a plastic chair and tried not to cry.

Would he sleep _here_ , then? He couldn’t call the office about Liam’s behaviour until tomorrow, and they likely wouldn’t take adequate action even then - even if his uncle called and threatened to take some sort of action. It was ridiculous.

He took out his phone and called his uncle. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he didn’t pick up. He was never there when Wrathion needed him - he had his own children to attend to, after all.

There was only one other person he could think to call. With his bottom lip bit to stop it from trembling, he reached for the scrunched-up piece of paper in his pocket and slowly typed the number into his phone.

He almost hoped he wouldn’t pick up. But no - there was Anduin’s obnoxiously cheerful voice. “Hello? Who is it?”

Wrathion stayed in silence for a few moments, letting Anduin repeat his queries, before he gave a small grunt of acknowledgement.

“Oh.” Anduin’s tone immediately flattened. “What do _you_ want?”  
“I need a place to stay tonight.”  
“ _What_? Wrathion,” he snapped, “why on this world are you calling _me_? Just earlier you were--” But then he stopped. “Wait, are you _crying_?”  
“Shut up.” He sniffed.   
“Well--” Anduin sighed. In the silence, Wrathion could hear the sound of the television in the background. “Why do you need a room?”  
“I’m in dormitories and my _blasted_ roommate kicked me out because he wants the dormitory to his boyfriend and himself.”  
“Just report--”  
“The office is closed!” He bit back a sob. “Do you _really_ think I’d call you unless it was _absolutely necessary_?! Do you have a place I can stay or what?!”  
“Yes! I have a spare room. Light.” He breathed out hard. “Look, I’ll tell you my address. Just try not to snap at me this time. I won’t kick you out, but I don’t have to be nice back either,” he warned.  
“Fine. I don’t care.” He sniffed. “Just tell me where to go.”

His apartment wasn’t far, so Wrathion and the books he’d had on him that morning arrived within about fifteen minutes. The apartment building looked… _nice_. Anduin’s parents must be rich, Wrathion thought, as he took the lift up to the second floor and found the right door number.

Anduin answered the door promptly, looked Wrathion up and down thoroughly, and then let him inside.

“What was that for,” Wrathion muttered.  
“I wanted to make sure you weren’t lying to me. No offence, but I’ve been messed around by Prestors enough.”

 _Oh_. So _that’s_ what this was about.

“I’m not like my relatives,” Wrathion muttered. “Where am I staying? _No offence_ , but these books are rather heavy.”  
“Through here.”

Anduin lead him to the spare bedroom. It was much bigger than Wrathion had anticipated, and he stared at Anduin. “Are… you _sure_? This isn’t a prank?”  
“No.” Anduin looked at him flatly. “Do you really think I’d pull a prank on you when you already caused me so much grief? My roommate started the semester, but he dropped out when he decided to go travelling instead. He’s still paying his half of the rent and everything, but his room’s empty. So here.”

Wrathion stared, and gently set his bag down on the bed along with most of his books. Distrustful glances occasionally found their way over to Anduin as he picked out the papers that involved their group project, then followed him back to the living room, where the television was still on.

“Sit,” Anduin practically commanded, and Wrathion did as he was told.

They watched television together.

For two hours.

And, miraculously, Wrathion didn’t grow bored. Anduin made all the choices on what to watch next, but it seemed they had largely the same taste in television - documentaries, quiz shows, and political humour. As each choice fitted in with exactly what Wrathion was wishing he could watch were he alone, he began to stare increasingly at Anduin, wondering if he was a plant of some kind from his family. Was _this_ their misguided attempt at making him socialise?

Well, if so, then it was working.

After the last quiz show of the evening had ended and Anduin was flicking through looking for another documentary to watch, Wrathion decided to slide the group work over to him for his approval - or dismissal. Anduin didn’t notice at first, but when he did, his eyes widened.

“You… actually did it?”  
“Well, what _else_ was I supposed to be doing?” Wrathion folded his arms and scowled at the television.  
“This is…” Anduin blinked. “This is actually really good.”  
“I know.”

Anduin’s cheeks flushed a little, and he returned his attention to choosing what to watch on the television.

Wrathion went to bed after the next show ended without much further ado. But when he woke in the morning - 8am, ready for his lecture to begin at 9 - he was surprised to find Anduin already awake and working, mug of coffee cradled in one hand and pencil in the other.

“What are you doing?”  
Anduin jumped. “Oh! M.. Morning… for some reason I expected you to sleep in.”  
“Never.” Wrathion moved over, and repeated his question.  
“Oh, I’m just finishing the… group work for class, actually.” He shrugged and laughed a little. “I figure the professor will be impressed if we turn it in finished this morning.”  
“Hmm.” Wrathion gestured for the papers, and read over Anduin’s work. “Yes. I agree. Is it almost finished?”  
“Almost, yeah.”

Wrathion sat down next to him and helped him do the rest.

They walked to class together, and the professor was impressed for them to have turned their project around so quickly; and, best of all, Anduin made sure Wrathion got his seat.

Maybe he _had_ made a new friend, after all.


End file.
